Dao of Alchemy.

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With a weird expression, Yoriichi watched as Jaina completed the final procedure by slapping the lid open with a loud gong sound. Chuckling at the realization that the process was merely a flashy performance to make the Alchemy Dao look impressive, he peered inside the furnace. Seeing four green pills, which he assumed got their color from the leaves, he picked one up and ate it. It dissolved in his mouth, leaving only a grassy taste and texture.

Seeing that there was nothing particularly special about the pill, Yoriichi wanted to ask Jaina something but suddenly hesitated, realizing he might have judged the Alchemy Dao's capabilities too soon. Observing closely, he was surprised to find that his skin cells had undergone a temporary adaptation. His normal human melanocytes, which usually protect the skin from UV light, had transformed to function like chloroplasts, capable of performing photosynthesis. Stunned by the implications of this, he was too late to offer his opinion.

"Yes. This is what makes Alchemy Dao special. This is why the pills in Xianxia literature can accelerate someone's cultivation. By not only trapping the energy inside the pill but also transforming the body with the ingredients used, it essentially enables the person to draw in energy more efficiently."

Seeing that Yoriichi had already finished the pill aimed at essence cultivation, Jaina picked up another one and handed it to him.

Eating the pill and letting it dissolve in his mouth, Yoriichi's pupils suddenly dilated with surprise and excitement. His wave function model, or Soul Cultivation Technique, which had previously been just a normal human consciousness, was slowly learning to imitate what it was like to become grass. This, in turn, enhanced his model for calculating fate, as he now understood what it was like to exist as a form of flora.

Noting the dilation of his pupils and sensing his existence slowly merging with the plant, she continued, "And this is another reason why Alchemy Dao is special. It has the ability to target not just the energy absorption of someone, but to influence every cultivation technique out there."

Giving him the last useful pill and observing the very small part of his muscles enhanced with the properties of fiber grass, Jaina finally concluded, "For example, this pill enhances Body Cultivation Techniques by permanently evolving the targeted skeletal, smooth, and cardiomyocytes muscle cells."

Seeing his bone marrow beginning to permanently transform into something other than normal human marrow, Yoriichi frowned and halted the evolution immediately, not wanting to turn himself into a completely different species.

"Unlike the essence pill, which focuses specifically on energy absorption, this pill targets the body itself, driving permanent evolution. That's why, in Xianxia, body cultivation is considered a dangerous path—because practitioners are essentially changing their genes with each step of their cultivation, risking their bodies. As you know, this can result in their internal systems going haywire, potentially leading to their own death."

Remembering Andrew or Narishma, who went down this path, Yoriichi asked, "So, that means Narishma is currently gambling his life away with each breakthrough and cultivation. Am I right?"

Nodding her head sadly, Jaina answered, "Yes. I don't know how he is able to stay alive, to the point of already becoming third in terms of level, but essentially, yes, he is gambling his life away."

Remembering that Narishma is already in the billions-digit range, and realizing that his technique seems to be part of a Dao cultivation process that is able to reach infinity as well, Yoriichi relaxed his frown and chose to trust his best friend's judgment on this matter. Turning his gaze to the last pill inside the furnace, which had a pleasing glossy green color, he then asked, "What about this one? Does it have any special effects?"

Smiling slyly, Jaina simply says, "Try it."

Shaking his head, knowing he wouldn't get an answer from her and that there would be no harm in falling for one of her pranks, Yoriichi took the pill and ate it. At first, he didn't feel anything, but after a few seconds, he suddenly had an urge to burp, and so he did. Not only that, but his tongue then experienced the sensation of being a cow that loves eating leaves. It created a conflicting mix of emotions: one craving grass and wanting to drop to the ground to eat it, and the other feeling embarrassed for ever having such a thought.

"Hihihihi. Not only that, but Alchemy Dao can also perform an attack. I might not yet know how to model the internal structure of the pill to seep into someone else's body when it's cracked into gas, but essentially, this is how an Alchemy Practitioner can attack someone."

Finished with her demonstration, she concluded, "So, in a sense, the art of alchemy is not just about creating the pill itself but about controlling its properties. By using the same ingredients, one can later create something unique and different from the substances inside it. The method to achieve this, as you mentioned earlier, involves fine-tuning the thermodynamic equilibrium of the Phase Diagram. Once the fine-tuning is done, it changes the behavior of the atoms and molecules inside the pill, allowing the pill formula to perform novel and exotic things."

Letting out a breath of sadness, Jaina then added her opinion, "Sadly, because the people of Xianxia are too focused on improving their energy, they do not see that creating the pill itself is easy if they understand the laws of thermodynamics. They become stuck in that practice just to successfully create the pill, rather than innovating or adjusting the pill formula to create different properties using the same ingredients. If these practitioners were willing to learn a little about science, I think the Dao of Alchemy could be superior in terms of auxiliary usefulness or destructiveness, as they would be able to simulate any kind of attack."

Raising his eyebrows, Yoriichi asked her opinion, "What about you? Do you want to improve the Dao of Alchemy to infinity and beyond?"

Shaking her head, Jaina explained, "No. I don't think this is my kind of thing. The math is just too much for me to handle. It's very similar to the Dao of Fate—too much calculation. My soul can't bear it."

Sighing, knowing that Jaina only liked to dabble in various things and was never able to focus on one particular topic, Yoriichi simply nodded in silent acknowledgment that everyone has their own desires.

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